


Gold Heart, Frozen Frame

by BeMyBatmanLiam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: A teenager named Brice falls for Liam Payne, Brain Damage, Brain Surgery, Car Accident, Depression, Friends to Lovers, Gay Male Character, Its so sappy, M/M, Pre Baby Payne, but so cute, can be triggering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-11 07:39:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1170429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeMyBatmanLiam/pseuds/BeMyBatmanLiam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"How beautiful it is that someone could make your heart beat so fast when you don't want it to beat at all."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate AU where Liam is famous and dating Cheryl, but saves someone from death. And then falls in love with them and realizes just how to live.
> 
> See end for more notes.

* * *

Everyday was a little harder. I felt cold, and numb, more than I already was. Like an elephant was sitting on my chest. The inside of my car was just as cold as the outside air was. I think I was more confused leaving New York City, than I was arriving. Even driving seemed to be such an impossible task. I moved to the city to try to figure out who I was, but even now, when I'm leaving, I still don't know. I was sad, and cold, and lonely, and I didn't know how to fix myself, so I just cried. Tears stung the corner of my eyes, and my vision became impaired until I wiped them away. At this point, even I didn’t understand why I was crying. It was almost impossible to stop. I felt empty. A red dot appeared in my vision, and I placed my foot on my brake. There was a simple screech and the smell of burnt rubber was intoxicating. Then, white.

There was a beeping sound in the back of my head. It slowly grew louder, and suddenly I was awake. There was a light over me, and I could feel my arms growing heavier. I was in a hospital bed. As my blurry vision came to focus, I could only think of how I arrived in this bed. Out of the corner of my eye stood a woman fiddling with a machine that seemed to echo throughout the room. I noticed cords and tubes that entangled behind and around me. One particular tube I found embedded itself into my hand. I glanced back up to the woman. She was wearing baby blue scrubs with a name tag on her chest that was too tiny to read. I did somehow make out one word; nurse. 

“Brice, honey?” she said. "You were in a car accident, you're in the hospital, you're safe." She turned, grabbed a clipboard that was placed on the counter by the door, and walked out. I noticed that she started to flip through pages, and scrambled to find a doctor. I lifted my head up to get a better look as to where I was. There was a man in the corner sitting in the hospital chair. He arose from his current state and walked to the end of the bed. He wasn't anything but a fuzzy silhouette, until he finally stood over me. Hair slicked back, but still fairly messy, and a familiar blue button down. It was him.

I tried my hardest to raise my hands, and rub my eyes. My arms were heavy, cold, and shaking, and were still tangled in tubes and blankets. I felt weightless, I felt heavy, I felt like air. I felt like I have been dreaming. My mind was as clouded as my vision. I started to lean up in my hospital bed, but I was met with a large hand on my shoulder. I turned to my left to see him, slowly pushing my body back down into the bed.

"No, don't get up, just rest," he said. His accent strong and fast. It took me a couple seconds to register his words. Meanwhile, I was still wondering if this was a dream or not. He looked exhausted, his eyes dark, almost black, and his cheeks were crimson, while the rest of his face was a ghostly pale. Yet, he was beautiful.

"I....Liam? What's going on?" I forced out. My voice was shaken again, as if there was more of an exhale of sound, than actual words.

"You were in a bad accident, and hit your head. You were asleep for a little while," he said. He pulled the chair up to the right side of my bed. When he sat down, he looked down at his hands and began to twiddle his thumbs.

"How long? How long was I asleep," I responded. He rose his head and his eyes met mine. "A little over a week," he said. I could feel the tears developing in the corners of my eyes. What was going on? Why was Liam fucking Payne in my hospital room? God, he's breathtaking, even in his distraught exhaustion.

"Mr. Wesley, glad to see you're awake. Liam here was getting so worried. How are you feeling? Any discomfort?" The doctor entered from the hallway. "I'm fine, just a little confused, and a bit of a headache," I responded. The doctor pressed a button on the ground, and the back of my hospital bed began to rise. 

"You were in a car accident. Rear ended, and you hit your head on the steering wheel. Unfortunately, your air bag didn't protect you from that. Liam here never left your side. His car stopped you from driving into oncoming traffic," the doctor said. All at once, almost on cue, my forehead began to hurt. I reached to touch it and felt more pain as my fingers grazed what felt like a thick cloth surrounding the front of my face. "No, don't touch it," Liam said and I turned to meet his voice, and his stare. His eyes haven't left my direction. I began to study him. His arms were covered in light scratches, cuts, and bruises. 

"Your arm," I said, subconsciously reaching for his hand and pulling his arm towards me to get a better look.

"Oh, yeah. Thats nothing, just a scratch," he smiled glancing down, then rising to meet my eyes again. He then tightened his grip, and thats when I realized, _I was holding his hand_. It was massive, and strong, compared to mine. But also soft, and warm. Honestly, if I died in this moment, everything would be okay. I started to blush and I heard mumbling, then noticed the doctor leaving the room. I was too busy gazing into Liam's eyes to even make out what was said. Nothing less from tunnel vision. He was kind, and warm, and felt more like home then my own house did. 

Is this what _Love_ feels like?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam and Brice's relationship develops more.

Seconds, turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Yet, somehow, with Liam, time was stopped. I forgot about my unfortunate position; being stuck in this hospital, in this room, in this bed. The days were so much easier with Liam beside me. He began to sleep on a cot that the nurses brought in, after a couple of days, of witnessing Liam trying to sleep comfortably on a lousy hospital chair. But most nights I notice he does more tossing and turning than actual sleeping. 

I wondered if I should tell him to leave, insist that I was fine and that I didn't need him to stay to watch over me, like a child. But I was also worried that, if I did speak up, he would listen, and leave. And that was something I really didn't want. So I remained silent, sleepless, and joyful that he was still there, every morning, waking me up with that invigorating smile. 

We watched a lot of TV. Yelling back and forth at game shows, and making silly jokes about reality shows and celebrities on TMZ. To me, the conversations were endless, and exciting. I often worried that, to him, they were meaningless, and easily forgettable. But, at the same time, I didn't care. For the first time in a long time, each day was more than just a day, they were the definition of happiness. How ironic; laying in a hospital bed for days made me feel happy. My pain was still present, but Liam was there. He made it all go away. He made me feel warm and strong, the opposite of kryptonite. He made the days so much easier. 

Liam and I were having a silly contest to see who could sing the highest note, when the doctor entered the room. We both were screaming, instead of singing, and we sounded like terrible adaptations of Mariah Carey. 

"Boys, you do know this is a hospital, right?" the doctor said. Liam and I erupted into laughter before we could figure out who won. "Sorry, Doc. Next time we'll try our best to sing better," Liam responded. His cheeky grin always made me smile even wider and brighter. "Liam, do you mind stepping out for a second? I have to talk to Brice about his latest CT results," the doctor said. He placed my file down on the end of the bed, and folded away his glasses into his pen pocket. 

"Sure, I've gotta take a phone call anyways," Liam said as he stood up and disappeared out the door and into the hallway. My doctor walked to the door and slowly closed it, before turning and walking to the side of the bed. "So, do you want to hear the good news or bad news first?" 

"There's bad news?" I responded, and my stomach instantly flipped. 

"Good news first, then, I guess," he responded. "Your forehead wound is healing perfectly, theres no sign of infection, and there will minimal scarring, if any. However, the bad news is, we did find something a bit unusual in your CT Scan. 

"What did you find?"

"Well, we found a mass of some sort, located on your frontal lobe. Before we make any type of rash decisions, we don't know if it is benign or not yet," he said. My heart began to beat really fast, and I felt my entire body grow cold. 

"Wow, talk about dropping the ball, doc." 

"We'll need to take a biopsy before any decisions need to be made. Luckily, if it is cancerous, it looks like we've caught it fairly early, and it is in an easily accessible area of the frontal lobe," he replied. Immediately my mind went to Liam. Should I tell him? What will he say? He's already given me too much, so much. And stayed with me too long. I'm left with endless thoughts and decisions. My mind starts racing. There's mumbling coming from the doctor's mouth, and I can't make out a single word. Somewhere along the line, he disappeared, and I didn't even notice. My head was only thinking of one thing; Liam Payne. 

And then, almost like magic, Liam suddenly appeared bedside again. He was calling my name, and his brows were furrowed as if he was confused. 

"Sorry, what?" I said shaking my head. 

"Hopefully the doctor said good things," Liam said. "Yeah," I replied, and you could almost feel a chill in the air. I didn't know what to do or say. I was just left staring at Liam, who was silently staring back at me. "So, I definitely won that singing challenge, right?" I joked. 

"Yeah, right mate. Didn't you hear my note? It was definitely higher than yours," he spit right back, and nudged my arm. 

"So who was on the phone? Someone important? Beyonce?" 

"Haha I wish Beyonce would phone me up. Nah mate, it was my girl. Just was checking up on me," he replied.

"Your girl?" I questioned, but I said it quiet enough, almost a whisper, and I don't think he heard me. He didn't respond and his eyes remained fixated at the TV that hung in the corder of the room. Of course Liam was dating someone. He was so close to touch, yet completely untouchable. The room felt dimmer and darker, almost like the curtains were drawn, and the sun disappeared. And I was left wondering what I should do or say. I was falling for someone that I couldn't have. 

We sat in silence for awhile, just staring at the TV. I was exhausted, and I knew he was too. I wanted to sleep, but I knew that I couldn't, and wouldn't, no matter how hard I tried. I decided to just spill everything out. Tell him I didn't need him, or want him, even if it was a lie. If I send him away now, before I fall even further, than it won't hurt as bad. I needed to, and I knew I had to. But my mind couldn't think, and my mouth couldn't move to make words. I was paralyzed. I let out a faint noise by accident, and embarrassingly, it sounded like a moan. Liam instantly turned to me, and I could feel my entire face turning bright red. Then, I saw something in his eyes. It was lust. But I also noticed, his mouth starting to open, and he was trying to form words. 

"I......I...." He began to say. I think I'm going to die from embarrassment. 

"I have a brain tumor," I replied quickly.

Silence.

**Author's Note:**

> This is slowly developing into something crazy. Don't know how many chapters this will be. Please don't read, as it does talk about depression. May be triggering to some.


End file.
